I know I’m prone to obsessions, what can I say? It’s definitely a family thing….but I know I’ve taken it a little too far when my daughter (the 15 year old, gorgeous girlie, bless her! She of the gorgeous eyebrows 🙂 ) tells me she’s fed up of casseroles, stews and ‘cooked’ (in her words) dinners that have come out of my workhorse of a slow cooker.

“Please, mum, can we just have some pasta or something…”

This is how my mind works:
Pasta. Pasta sauce. Chicken in the freezer. Mascarpone in the fridge needs using up. I love my slow cooker…..

Help! 😉

That’s how my chicken in a spicy tomato and mascarpone sauce happened.
Oh. My. Gosh.
Let me tell you – it’s just delish!
And will hopefully please both of my girls 😀 and the husband.

Creamy. Spicy. Tomatoey…..Have I sold it to you yet? Give it a whirl! I promise you’ll love it.

Chicken in a Spicy tomato and mascarpone sauce
Serves 4.

4, skinless, boneless, chicken breast fillets, cubed
1, finely chopped onion
1, 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2tbsp Balsamic vinegar
30ml Marsala or sherry
1/2 (half) tsp of chilli flakes
1 tbsp sugar
2-3 tbsp mascarpone
2tbsp cornflour
Salt and pepper, to taste.

1. Turn slow cooker on to high.

2. Place the chicken pieces, which have been cut into bite size cubes, in the base of the slow cooker. Place the chopped onion on top.

3. Place the next seven ingredients on top and give it all a good stir.
Cook on high for 4 hours.

*No peeping! Each lid lift adds 20 minutes on to the cooking time!*

4. Beat the mascarpone and cornflour together with a little of the sauce from the chicken until smooth and creamy.
Pour into the the chicken and sauce, stirring all the while.
Add salt and pepper.

5. Turn the slow cooker to low. Cook on low for a further 30 mins. The sauce will thicken beautifully.

*Don’t try to add the mascarpone at the start of the cooking time. The slow cooker can destabilise dairy products so they end up curdling if they spend more than about an hour in there*

6. Cook enough pasta for 4 people (I used 1, 500g pack of curly pasta)

7. Stir the pasta into the chicken and sauce and serve to four hungry people, even the fussy 15 year old is guaranteed to love it! 😉